Nigerian musician named in Shazam’s 10 artists to watch this year

The Apple-owned music discovery and identification app says the selection, dubbed Predictions 2023, is based on its uniquely predictive data and algorithms with the expertise of Apple Music’s global editorial team, focusing on artists who “show early indicators of future growth, early and consistent momentum in Shazam activity, as well as discovery trends in more than one country.”

The selection spotlights five artists with the potential to break out globally in 2023 and five others who are gaining popularity regionally. Carter Efe, who is part of the latter group, joins fellow emerging talent from the US, Japan, Colombia, Spain and France, among others.

“Shazam basically aided in boosting my career to this point,” Carter Efe, whose music break arrived via the 2022 hit ‘Machala’, said. “Having the sound was one step, but Shazam made it easier to connect me as an artist to new listeners who may not have known me prior to hearing the sound somewhere and got to Shazam it. In a click the new user is straight on any of my digital platforms to listen to what I have, it’s really been impactful and I really want to say I’m personally appreciative of it for what it’s done for my music career and other sounds basically.”

Shazam enjoys a reputation as a powerful tool for predicting the next class of global superstars. Afropop stars Ayra Starr and Lojay were named in the app’s projections last year. Ayra Starr made Shazam’s Global Top 10 in October and is now being heralded as an artist to watch in 2023 by other platforms, including music video network Vevo. Lojay’s streams increased by 696% on Apple Music worldwide from 1 December 2021 through 30 November 2022.

Overall, around half the artists featured in the Shazam Predictions 2022 playlist made Shazam’s Top 200 National charts and Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 charts.

Meanwhile, Shazam has unveiled its Predictions 2023 playlist, a 50-track selection of global and diverse artists poised for success this year.